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Everybody’s an Editor!

My new best friend, adventure racer, Denise, sent me a new Flip Ultra Video Cam. I gave it a little test run, and though I’d do a little review of my new gadget. My lap dog of an editor didn’t care much for what I was writing.

When one yawn didn’t make me stop, and the second yawn just slowed me down, she decided it was time for direct intervention. So here’s the boring review of the Pure Flip Ultra

I already owned one of the original Pure Digital Technologies Flip Cams when they first hit Target. I “lost” the expensive camcorder and with a new puppy (Sofi) coming into the house and the low price, I figured what the heck.

I honestly can’t see the difference in the two original Flip and the new Flip Ultra. That’s not a bad thing, the original Flip did just fine. Very easy to use. One switch to turn it one, one button ( a big red one which is nice for people with fat fingers like mine) to start and stop recording. It plugs into a USB launches the program to download the software and Voila – a video. You can save the original file, which is huge, or save a file that has been compressed “for emailing.” The cam also has an auto shutdown so you won’t kill the AA batteries.

Note: everytime you start and stop the Flip, it makes a file, so there is no continuity.

BUT: and this is a biggie: the Flip Ultra software allows two files to be edited together. So while the new cam has spiffy new case, it’s pretty much the same as the old one. This one feature in the video software is very nice.

I was trying to think of who might be interested in something very simple and all I could come up with is somebody who just wants a point and shoot cam and doesn’t want to mess with software. But if this person has an interest in video, certainly running an auto-install of video editing software would not be insurmountable.

Unless you have a good friend, Denise, who will give you one free, I’d skip the Pure Ultra Flip. It was a good idea two years ago, but doesn’t seem to have kept up with the market place.

Oh, Sixty, I don’t know if I can allow myself to get that attached again. Had her from 8 wks ’til the end. We were living in AR which is not our home state. I couldn’t bear the thought of burying her here because I knew someday we’d return to our home state and family. It would’ve been like leaving our child behind. So, when her time came we took her back to our home state so she could be buried on our daughter’s (who is deeply rooted and will never move) property.

I’ll get out one of my favorite pics of her and blog about her one day this upcoming week. She was adorable.

Don’t overestimate the quality of those Aiptek cameras just because they shoot in 1080p HD. Aiptek generally makes pretty low-end stuff. Some of the reviews at that Amazon link are not flattering. I’d say that the Flip and the Aiptek are pretty much on par, the only significant difference being the HD.

I’ve been very interested in picking up one of these cheapo recorders just to kick around, so if you’re interested in giving it away or parting with it for a few simolians, give me a holler.